US comedian Bill Cosby has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman at his home more than a decade ago.
The 78-year-old was charged with aggravated indecent assault and was due to be arraigned this afternoon.
The move to charge Cosby sets the stage for one of the biggest Hollywood celebrity trials in history.
A previous district attorney declined to charge Cosby in 2005 in relation to the allegation. The comedian has previously said under oath that he had consensual sexual contact with the woman.
It will be the first criminal case against Cosby over his conduct with women, which has received new scrutiny in the past year.
Prosecutors reopened the case over the summer as testimony was unsealed in a related civil lawsuit against Cosby and as dozens of other women came forward with similar accusations.
Many of those alleged assaults date back decades, and the statute of limitations for bringing charges has expired in nearly every case. But Pennsylvania law gives prosecutors up to 12 years for some sex crimes, with the clock running out on this case in January.
The former university employee settled her lawsuit against Cosby in 2006 on confidential terms.
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